IMPORTANT
NOTICE!!!
After writting only three chapters (Well, it's four
now) of this story, I found out that I would like to change it
slightly. In this chapter, everything will be seen in Sakura's eyes,
instead of changing the P.O.V. (point of view).
Arigatou
gozaimasu!!!
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Moving In!
Chapter 4:
Tuesday
I sat in the nurse's office. My cheek had swollen up quite a bit, and it had a faint blue-ish color. She was rummaging through her things and finally pulled out a tiny bottle. She dipped a small cloth in the ointment inside the bottle and started dabbing my cheek. "I-Itai! Itai!" I squeaked as she kept applying the ointment to my cheek.
"There, all done." She said and sent me a wide smile. I gave a weak smile and hopped off the bed I had been sitting on. "You'll have another check-up tomorrow and then you'll be fine." She said and I nodded my head. The nurse was a kind old woman, who had worked at Konoha High since she was thirty years old. Now, she was about fifty years old.
I thanked her and left the office. The halls in our school had big windows, as did the classrooms. We could see what was going on outside and those outside could see inside, of course. As I walked down the hall to get back to my room, I saw Sasuke sitting on a bench outside, occupied with his Blackberry.
Damn rich kid…
I pretended to act as though I hadn't noticed that he wasn't there, but as though he sensed my presence, his head turned towards me. I stopped walking and sighed, he was moving his index finger back and forth at me, telling me to come. He stared at me as I walked outside and headed towards him. "Hi Sasuke-kun." I greeted him bitterly. He could obviously see right through my anger, because he frowned.
"What's wrong with you now?" He asked and nearly smirked.
"Nothing." I snapped. He didn't say anything, so I began to walk back towards the door. Unfortunately, he called me back.
"Sakura-chan, are you really okay?" He asked loudly. I turned around and scowled at him. He wasn't concerned, he was only curious.
"I'm fine." I said through clenched teeth.
"Whatever…" I heard him mumble as I walked back towards the door. I stopped in my tracks and whispered, loud enough for him to hear.
"Pervert."
I thought I might have heard him chuckling right before I shut the door behind me. I kept walking towards the stairs, so I could go up to my dorm room. I ran up the stairs quickly, trying to escape from the continuous windows. When I was at the last stair I tripped, completely falling over and dropping my books.
Oh god… Shoot me now.
I heard the giggling of a few girls as they passed. "Hey Sakura-chan." Naruto said, helping me pick up my books. Beside him were Ino and Tenten, who immediately noticed me.
"Ino-chan, Tenten-chan!" I gasped. They both smiled.
"We were looking for you everywhere!" Ino said, helping me onto my feet. "Our dorms are on the north half of the school, that's why we never see you." Ino explained. I nodded my head as I looked at their uniforms, still somewhat dazed. The school was so big that it had to be divided in two; there were nearly three thousand students in the school.
"You want to come see my dorm?" Sakura asked happily. They nodded their heads and followed her towards it. Once we arrived at the door, I turned to face them. "Wait a minute..." I said and disappeared inside. Neither Hinata nor Temari were there. I kicked all the clothes that were on the floor under the beds, conveniently hiding them. I then went back to the door and let the group inside.
"Nice." Tenten said. In our dorm we had a 42 inch flat screen TV – courtesy of the Hyuuga Company – Temari's laptop, as well as mine, my old radio, a tiny garbage can, a mini fridge, a microwave, one ordinary bed and a bunk bed. Hinata didn't need to bring her laptop, since she had quite a large amount of money, she had her own Blackberry.
"You're so lucky to have Hinata in your dorm room! I would die to have a TV this big…" Ino said in awe as she stared at it. Tenten sat down at our desk, which held our laptops. Beside it was our diner table, where we rarely ate. I smiled at my company.
"We have to share our room with Karin-chan and she complains about everything!!" Tenten whined. Naruto sat on the floor beside me, he had been quite silent- it was strange. "I don't know if I should tell you this, but Karin-chan really dislikes you, Sakura-chan." I nodded my head.
Don't worry, I know.
Naruto let out a deep sigh, and my mind was starting to shuffle again. "What's wrong?" I finally asked him. Ino was looking everywhere for the remote and Tenten was turning one my laptop, curious. He turned his eyes towards me; he had such a heavy look on his young and usually bright face.
"I haven't had ramen in days…" He sighed. I raised an eyebrow.
"What's so bad about that?" I asked. I shouldn't have said that. His eyes widened and he gripped my shoulders, he looked hysterical.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?! I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT RAMEN!!!" He yelled over dramatically. I rolled my eyes and got up, letting his hands slip away. I picked up the remote, which had been right beside Tenten and passed it to Ino, who seemed overjoyed. I then walked to the fridge and took out a familiar food. I passed it to Naruto. His eyes widened even more, if possible.
He ran to the microwave with his instant ramen in hand and stuck it inside; he'd be in heaven in three minutes. "Why is everyone's life so simple, yet mine is complicated to such an atrocious extent?" I mumbled to myself and fell onto my bed. I heard a familiar click and saw Hinata come inside. She looked slightly shaken.
"Hey Sakura, who are…?" She asked quietly and stared and Tenten and Ino; they hadn't even noticed her. I quickly sat up.
"This is Tenten-chan, and that's Ino-chan." I explained happily. Hinata gave me a confused look. I thought she might have been annoyed that I had brought them here, but them she grabbed my arm and pulled me away. "What's wrong?" I asked, feeling slightly cautious.
"Didn't you get my e-mail?" She asked quietly, carefully keeping her voice low. I shook my head. I knew something was wrong, and it seemed quite urgent. Her phone suddenly rang. She quickly took out her blackberry and answered it, turning her back on me.
"Whatever… Sure." She said and angrily pushed a button, hanging up. She turned to me again with a concerned look on her face. This wasn't like Hinata; she was usually quite cheerful.
"What's wrong?" I asked impatiently. She let out a deep sigh.
"It's your dad."
I could feel the blood wash out of my face.
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"Sakura, calm down!" Hinata urged; I was driving her Porsche recklessly down the wide road. I was well beyond the speed limit, but the road was nearly empty anyway, no one could stop me now. She was looking at me, concern filling her bright purple eyes.
"I can't. I have to see him." I murmured and managed to pass before the light turned from yellow to red with an impressive acceleration. Hinata looked utterly terrified; she seemed too nauseous to watch the road. She decided to stop bothering, and let me concentrate on the road. I wasn't the best driver, but the adrenaline would keep me safe… for now.
I swerved down the road and drove into the hospital's parking lot. I stopped so roughly that Hinata had to hold onto her seat belt to avoid smacking her head. By the time she opened her eyes, I was already outside, running to the door. I slowed down to a slow walk, for her to catch up. Once she was at my side, I sprinted again. I wasn't really watching carefully, and I rammed into something hard and cold.
THUD
I fell onto my back heard Hinata squeak and halt to a stop as well. I quickly sat up, unaware of what I might have smacked into. All I knew was that it was painful. "Are you okay, Sakura?" Hinata asked cautiously. I nodded my head, which felt unnaturally heavy at the moment. I quickly got up, nonetheless.
"What are you doing?" I heard. I looked up and immediately narrowed my eyes. It wasn't my fault; it was just an unstoppable reaction.
"Sorry Sasuke-kun." I blurted angrily, not feeling at all sorry. Hinata glanced back and forth, from me to him. Finally she frowned.
"Are we going or not?" She seemed as impatient as I was. I nodded my head, and was about to leave, when Sasuke blocked my way. He was smirking that annoying… smirk… of his.
"What's the hurry?" He asked curiously. He was looking into my eyes, and I felt him reading me, it made me feel self-conscious.
"Stop it!" I blurted out again. He raised an eyebrow, but kept watching me. "Follow me or whatever you want, but just let me pass!" I said quickly, my mood had changed in less than half a second. He let me pass, but he didn't follow.
Hinata and I ran up the stairs, the elevator would take too long. Once we were on the right floor, I ignored Hinata heavy breathing, and kept running to the door. I burst it open. My father lay there, unconscious. My face, still pale, was confused. A doctor turned towards me, but he didn't say anything. Hinata finally reached the door, still panting uncontrollably.
"I don't get it. What's wrong with him?" I asked weakly, I was dragging my feet to his bed. I fell onto a chair placed beside it, and could feel the utter emptiness take over. I knew what he was going to say. It happened all the time.
"He almost woke up." The doctor mumbled. "It was a false alarm. I'm sorry." I didn't care about what he had said, realization had sunk such a long time ago, it seemed. Hinata stood next to me, rubbing my back. She had tears in her eyes, but I couldn't cry. I didn't feel like crying right now, I couldn't waste my tears.
A solid ten minutes passed when I got sick of the place.
"Let's go back then." I told Hinata after taking a deep breath. She nodded her head and bit her lip as she watched me stand. In a few minutes, I was in the passenger's seat, next to Hinata. I looked fit to be driving, Hinata was tried to hold back her sobs.
"Don't worry, it happens all the time." I told her. Things felt reversed, and I was okay with that. I promised myself that I would be, and I didn't intend to break any promises. She nodded her head stiffly and revved the engine. I looked up from my shaky fingers. Sasuke was standing right outside, not watching us directly, but paying attention.
I suddenly opened the door and climbed out of the car, leaving Hinata speechless. I walked up to him angrily, and he turned his head to me curiously. "Why can't you mind your own business?" I asked in a calm voice. He seemed amused by me, and I hated it. He didn't answer me right away.
"Why are you so difficult?" He slowly asked.
"What are you talking about?" I snapped.
"If you needed a place to live, you should have asked me." He said and a sly smirk spread across his face. I could really punch him right now. How dare he insult me like that? I could never move in with him… it was absurd! I turned on my heel and stalked towards the car. I opened the door and got inside. I struggled to hold in a gasp, for he was standing there; holding the door.
His eyes were concentrated, slightly narrowed, his eyebrows creasing softly. His smirk disappeared and in came a very serious look. He spoke in a dead serious tone, too.
"I'm not joking."
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It all happened so fast.
I was moving in with Sasuke-kun and Itachi-kun. It was scary, actually. They lived in the higher end of the neighbourhood, near Hinata's house.
That was the best part.
I was living with two perfectly capable men.
That was the worst part.
I had my own room upstairs, and I knew I would miss the dorms. But, I had to admit, it was just like home.
Except it was more intimidating, much bigger and gut wrenchingly quieter.
My things were being dropped off into the room by the movers. The room was gigantic, it made me feel… small. I never realized how little my belongings were. It was strange. "How are you holding up?" I heard Sasuke ask. He was leaning against the door very attractively (in fact, everything he does makes him look so) and he was smirking again.
"Fine." I said dryly and sat on my bed, hardly taking one quarter of it. He walked inside and looked around. He seemed to nod approvingly. "What is it?" I asked.
"Nothing is pink." He seemed surprised and delighted; I could tell he hated that color. I frowned at him. He glanced at my hair, then back to the walls. "Your hair is an exception, of course."
"Well, just to tell you, I'm not changing my hair." I said and opened my laptop. He walked over to my bed and looked over my shoulder, to the screen. I had a large amount of e-mails from an unknown sender. I click on one. It was overflowed with profound words and cussing.
I ignored it and went to the next. It was pretty much the same. I glared at my screen angrily. All these e-mails were threats and warnings. I still didn't know who sent them. "It looks like Karin-chan found out about this pretty fast." Sasuke mumbled.
It all clicked in my head. It made sense that Karin would be angry, but it seemed like she wasn't the only one who knew. She couldn't have possibly sent all of these by herself… unless of course, she had nothing better to do than stalk Sasuke.
I shut my laptop and dumped it onto my desk. I was already feeling home sick. I wanted my dorm room back. There was nothing to do here. Sasuke sat on the bed, beside me. My face turned a deep red and I moved a little to the side.
"You're still scared, aren't you?" He said, making sound like more of a statement than a question. I scowled at him and looked away. He lied down onto his side my bed and put his head in his left hand. I couldn't turn to look at him, it was too much to handle. I had just moved into a stranger's house, without thinking twice.
Why did I come here, then? This is ridiculous.
That was what Hinata had told me, that it was ridiculous. She was right; I didn't know what they could do to me. I trusted them though. I trusted them enough to make anyone think I was insane. I heard him chuckling, and had to turn around. He stared at me, waiting for any reaction.
"Why am I here?" I asked, feeling dizzy.
"Because you came here." He answered. I thought for a moment.
"Do you think I'm crazy for coming here?" I asked him and looked at the floor. There was a short pause. He shook his head. I smiled, at least I still had some bits of what you call 'sane' in me.
"I think this is very wrong." Itachi said. I quickly turned my head to see him standing right outside my room. "I have some rules I'd like to clear up for you all." He said and crossed his arms. I nodded my head. "One: I won't set a curfew of any sort, though I expect you to be home at a reasonable time. No one wants to get woken up in the middle of the night. Two: Breakfast is set at seven o'clock sharp. Lunch is at twelve, and supper is at six. Three: There are locks on the doors for a reason. Don't try to knock them down to get into a room…" He continued. I thought I might need to take notes… "Four: If you have any, er… business to do, please keep it quiet." My eyebrow twitched. "Five: Follow these rules and you should be fine. I hope you behave." He said and closed the door.
I stared at the door blankly. "So, tell me about your life." Sasuke seemingly demanded. I sighed. It would be best to spill the beans, or he would never leave me alone. I told him about my mother passing away, after being sick for years, and about my father in a coma. He listened carefully. It was strange to see him listen to me so deeply. Not once did he interrupt, it was discomforting. I told him everything anyway, I had nothing to lose.
"That's… interesting." He said when I finished. I didn't smile; I was too preoccupied with something else. "And I thought you were a complete waste of time." He said. I punched his shoulder and glared at him. "Well then, I guess you still are." He snickered and got up.
"Where are you going?" I asked frantically. It wasn't even thought about, I just reacted. I quickly regained calm and looked away.
"What's wrong? Do you have separation anxiety?" He asked and frowned at me.
"No!"
"Calm down, I'm just going to get a glass of water." He grumbled and left. I always thought Sasuke was cold and indifferent. Instead he was bizarre and out of character. I think I like him better that way. Temari-chan didn't know him as well as I thought she did, I suppose.
I nearly jumped when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I let out a sigh; I thought I was going to die… again. It happens all the time. I picked up the phone lazily and answered. "Moshi Moshi."
"Hey, Sakura." Gaara responded. I immediately smiled and got comfortable on my bed.
"Hi Gaara!" I said happily.
"What the hell is the matter with you?" He asked; his tone was suddenly much darker than before.
"W-What?" I stuttered nervously.
"Why did you move in with the Uchiha?! It's not safe there!" He almost yelled. Gaara sure liked to play the role of my absent parents.
"Don't get so worked up about it. It's nothing special." I told him.
"You just moved in to a stranger's house. How isn't that special, Sakura?" He asked angrily. I let out a deep sigh.
"Just trust me, okay? I have a good plan."
"A good plan for what? Tell me everything." He urged.
"Gaara, I told you to trust me!"
"I do trust you. It's the boy I don't trust."
"If you're going to act like you own me or something than stop it! I'm not going to talk to you until you become my Gaara, the one who's supposed to be my best friend." I snapped and hung up on him furiously.
"You should try and tame that temper of yours." Sasuke mumbled. I turned my head in surprise so fast I got whiplash. I angrily rubbed my aching neck as he came beside with his glass of water, already half-empty.
"Shut up, Sasuke-kun." I said and turned away from him. "You shouldn't eavesdrop on people." I muttered.
"Well, it's hard when you're practically yelling and your door is wide open for everyone to hear." He countered. I rolled my eyes. I hadn't been in this house for twenty-four hours yet and I was already making a huge fuss about things.
"Everything is really messed up today. Just go away." I said and stretched out on my bed. He surprisingly obeyed me and left the room, remembering to close the door this time. I sighed and before I could do much of anything else, I fell into unconsciousness.
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Wednesday
When I woke up I found myself in the same position. Nothing in my room had changed, but I knew that something here was strange. I gasped and pulled the covers over my head. I was in my silk night gown, someone had changed me! I heard something fall over and peeked over my blanket. There was a beautiful woman in my room, her looks made me jealous.
I realized that she was the maid, for she was dressed for it. "Oh, Sakura-san. You're awake! I took the liberty of changing your clothes for you. They're in the laundry basket." She explained and gave me a nice smile. Though it was still unsettling, I was glad that it was a woman who changed me, and not… I'd rather not think about that.
I jumped out of my bed. It was relatively early; I had gone to sleep early, after all. I ran up to her and watched her pick up the book she had dropped, and put it back on my desk. "You don't have to do that… I can clean up after myself." I told her.
"Oh- No! No! It's my job…" She told me and smiled again, I could see past it though. She looked as though she could use some rest.
"You know what, why don't you rest for today? I'll do your job." I suggested generously.
"Oh, I couldn't-"
"Don't worry! Now, rest." I said and pushed her onto my bed. She looked bewildered for a moment, but gave in easily. She reached into her pocket and gave me a list of things she would need me to do. I nodded my head, but I began to doubt whether I'd be able to do everything with school to go to and a job to work through.
"Are you sure about this…?" She asked.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine!" I lied.
